12 SYRRITAPTES PARADOXUS. 
These two eggs were found on the bank of the Shu on the Ist of May, 1887, 
about 350 miles east of Telekul. 
“The Kirghiz are accustomed to notice the direction in which the birds fly 
before midday, as an indication of the whereabouts of water; but they do not 
seem to be very particular as to the quality of the water. I saw them 
drinking the water of Telekul, which is almost unfit for cooking purposes, 
having a specific gravity of 1-005. I never saw them drinking at a lake salter 
than this. The Kirghiz name for them is Buldwruk; but the Russians call 
them Kuropatka, which means simply Partridge.” 
Mr. Bateson could not tell me whether these eggs were actually taken by 
himself. A good many eggs were found, of which most were broken in one 
way or another, by the men of his company as they passed along. | 
[§ 2872. Three.—* Alta.” From Herr Tancré, of Anclam, 
1888, through ; 
These eggs were sent to me as having been taken in Norfolk in May, 1888, 
during the time of the very great immigration into this country of birds of 
this species. At first I was quite prepared to accept the story, and their 
occurrence was recorded in ‘he Times’ of the 15th and ‘The Field’ of 
the 16th June. On further enquiry into the matter my suspicions were 
aroused, and after a great deal of trouble and an investigation which was 
spread over many weeks, I was, thanks to various friends, able to satisfy 
myself that a most disgraceful attempt to impose upon me, and naturalists 
generally, had been made; and that the specimens had been received from 
Herr Tancré, who sent them to this country in the ordinary course of trade, 
but coming into the hands of a dishonest dealer, they were by him passed off to 
the correspondent from whom I obtained them as having been taken at Holt 
in Norfolk, on the 20th May. The contradiction of the lie (or lies, for there 
were many) was recorded in ‘The Field’ of the 8th September, 1888. Among 
the friends who assisted me in detecting this impudent fraud were 
Mr. E. Bidwell, Mr. Alfred Chapman, Mr. Dresser, Mr. J. J. Lister, Mr. H. 
A. Macpherson, Mr. Upcher, and Lord Walsingham, not one of whom was 
aware at the time of the part the others were taking in the investigation. | 
[§ 2873. One.—Kattensundet Aviary, Denmark, 1890. From 
Herr B. Christensen. 
Herr Christensen, having been shewn by Herr [erluf Winge the description 
and figure of the Syrrhaptes-chick taken in Moray in 1889, which appeared 
in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1890 (pp. 207-214, pl. vii.), was good enough to write to me 
on the 23rd of September in that year, telling me that in January, 1889, he 
bought a cock and two hens which, having been caught in Jutland, he had 
turned into his aviary at Kattensundet, near Copenhagen, On the 30th of May, 
1890, one of the hen birds having died, he was surprised to find an egg laid 
by the other, and this was followed at intervals by four more. The mother 
shewing no disposition to incubate, he put two of the eges under a Pigeon, 
